Bysiewicz Wins in Naugatuck, Falls in Statewide Race; McMahon Coasts

Naugatuck voters have picked  and  in Tuesday's primary.

But it will be , not Bysiewicz, who will face off for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by , a former Democrat-turned-Independent who is retiring.

According to The Associated Press, McMahon and Murphy were big winners in Tuesday's primary. (Patch will update readers soon as the official results are available.)

In the meantime, here's how the votes were broken down in Naugatuck, according to the office of the registrar. (Story continues after graphic.)

U.S. SENATE – REPUBLICANS

VOTES, (%)

Linda McMahon

656 (89.5%)

Christopher Shays

77 (10.5%)

U.S. SENATE – DEMOCRATS

VOTES, (%)

Chris Murphy

281 (42%)

Susan Bysiewicz

385 (58%)

The low voter turnout is easily explained, said one local official.

"There was no truly concerted effort in Naugatuck, and there was not a lot of interest in this primary," said Naugatuck Democratic Town Committee Chairman M. Leonard "Lenny" Caine, III.

He said he was not surprised that Bysiewicz did so well in Naugatuck because she has always done well here. He believes the former secretary of the state has better name recongition in Naugatuck than Murphy, whom Caine said did not campaign much in the Borough despite living two towns over in Cheshire.

In terms of voter turnout, Caine said he was disappointed with the low turnout; about 10 percent of registered Democrats went to the polls. The percent of Republicans was slightly higher, around 15 percent, but was still considered low.

"Anyone who is in politics, I would submit, is disappointed when you have a 10 percent turnout," he said. "Unfortunately, low voter turnout is a trend. Look in Waterbury: they had upwards of $700,000 or so spent in the campaign for mayor and they had just 32 percent turnout. People's attention spans are limited. They are tuned out." 

He believes one way to increase voter turnout in primaries is to stop holding them in August, when people are worried about getting ready for the school year and trying to sneak in a vacation. He believes the state should change primary dates to June when people are "still paying attention."

"If people truly want higher voter turnout, they need to change the election schedule," he said.

Republican Town Committee Chairman Dorothy Hoff said she was enthused about Tuesday because she saw energy from the local GOP, even though no state representatives from Naugatuck were challenged.